W. G. Beasley (au). An authoritative, concise history of Japan from the 6th cent. to the present day. It is the history of a society & a culture with a distinct sense of itself, one of the few nations never conquered by a foreign power in historic times (until the 20th cent.) & the home of the longest-reigning imperial dynasty that still survives. Regarded as a minor Asian state until the late 19th cent., Japan transformed itself into a major power in the 20th cent. Throughout this book, Beasley, the author of a number of acclaimed works on Japanese history, examines the changing society & culture of Japan & considers what, apart from the land & the people, is specifically Japanese about the history of Japan. Photos.